The Pilecki Institute (; full name Instytut Solidarności i Męstwa imienia Witolda Pileckiego, lit. Witold Pilecki's Institute of Solidarity and Courage) is a

Polish government The government of Poland takes the form of a Unitary state, unitary semi-presidential republic, semi-presidential Representative democracy, representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Poland, president is the head of state and t ...

institution in care of preserving the memory, documenting and researching the historical experiences of Polish citizens and increasing awareness regarding totalitarianism in the 20th century. Its patron is

Witold Pilecki Witold Pilecki (; 13 May 190125 May 1948), known by the codenames ''Roman Jezierski'', ''Tomasz Serafiński'', ''Druh'' and ''Witold'', was a Polish World War II cavalry officer, intelligence agent, and resistance leader. As a youth, Pilecki ...

. The organization has been called Polish

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

Activities

Research

The Research Department initiates and participates in interdisciplinary research projects devoted to

totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public s ...

and the history of Poland in the 20th century. The Institute gathers researchers who specialize in political science, sociology, history and Jewish studies. It gathers and publishes documents concerning its scope of interests, provides support for scientific research, especially connected to the victims of

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

and

Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

. The studies are concerned primarily with

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and its consequences. The Institute also translates into Polish the most important works on totalitarianisms.

Education

The Institute carries out educational projects and events.

Commemoration

The Pilecki Institute commemorates persons who were murdered for providing aid and assistance to Poles and Jews during the

. Under “

Called by Name Called by Name () is a project commemorating Poles who were murdered for aiding Jews during World War II established in 2019 and organized by the Pilecki Institute. By the early 2020s, over 50 individuals have been recognized by the project. ...

” project were honoured e..g.

Jadwiga Długoborska Jadwiga Długoborska (née Wagner; 27 July 1899 – 29 June 1944) was a Polish teacher, social and charity worker, and member of the underground Polish independence movement during the World War II, persecuted and murdered for lending aid to ...

Lucyna Radziejowska Lucyna Władysława Radziejowska (24 June 1899 – 20 March 1944) was a Polish teacher known for lending aid to Jews during World War II. For this she was arrested by the Germans and murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Biography L ...

. On recommendation of the Institute, the President of Poland bestows the

Virtus et Fraternitas Medal The Virtus et Fraternitas Medal (Polish name: ''Medal Virtus et Fraternitas''; Latin for "Courage and Brotherhood") is a Polish state decoration established on 9 November 2017. It is awarded by the President of Poland on recommendation of the d ...

, the Eastern Cross, and the Western Cross.

Organisation

The Pilecki Institute was established by the Polish Parliament on 9 November 2017, and following year incorporated the Witold Pilecki Center for Totalitarian Studies. On 2017 the institute was given a one-time lump sum of PLN 75 million (roughly $18.7 million) by the Polish parliament, which was used to launch the institute and cover operational expenses through 2019. In 2020, the institute received a specified-user subsidy of PLN 20 million (roughly $5 million) from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Its aim is to analyse the importance for the history of the 20th century of the Nazi and Soviet totalitarian regimes and the global consequences of their actions. The Institute is supervised by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. The Institute is governed by the director, Krzysztof Ruchniewicz. A consultative and advisory body to the Director of the Institute is the Council of Memory whose members are appointed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. Amongst them are, e.g.: Grzegorz Berendt,

Sławomir Dębski Sławomir Jan Dębski (born 23 May 1971) is a Polish historian who has served as director of Polish Institute of International Affairs from 2007 until 2010 and again from 2016 until 2024. He previously headed The Centre for Polish-Russian Dialog ...

, Jan Ołdakowski, Albert Stankowski. The chairperson is prof. Zofia Zielińska. The Institute is divided into: * Department of Archives * Center for Totalitarian Studies * Education Department * Promotion and Production Team * Personnel Department * Research Department * Publishing Department * Personal Data Controller * Accounting Department * Competitive Tendering * Film Projects Team * Translation Team * Library * Press Office * Administrative Department * Raphael Lemkin Center for Documenting Russian Crimes in Ukraine * Berlin Branch

Notes

External links

Pilecki Institute Home Page
(English) {{Authority control 2017 establishments in Poland Commemoration of communist crimes Commemoration of Nazi crimes History of Poland (1989–present) History organisations based in Poland Organizations established in 2017